


I Heart You

by RosalindHawkins



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Heartshipping, M/M, One Shot, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-31 13:39:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8580640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosalindHawkins/pseuds/RosalindHawkins
Summary: Fluffy Heartshipping with some interpolation of canon events.





	

Ryou followed as Yugi beckoned to him with a jerk of his head. Now that the shadow game with the Spirit of the Millennium Ring was over, the others were still asleep. The two boys moved off a little bit to a place where they could talk without disturbing their friends.

"Ryou, how long have you had that evil spirit with you?" he asked softly, pity filling his heart.

"Ever since I received the Millennium Ring as a gift from my father," Ryou answered softly, touching the artifact that hung around his neck on a simple brown cord.

"Has he ever done anything like this before?" Yugi asked with concern.

"Kind of," Ryou answered evasively. "I mean, I've never encountered another Millennium Item before, so he's never quite gone this far, but…"

"But what?" Yugi asked softly, starting to grow concerned.

"Well, for the longest time, I didn't have any real contact with him. All I knew was that when I tried playing games with my friends, they would fall into a coma and end up in the hospital." Yugi gasped, making Ryou wince. "It's why I've been to so many schools over the years, why I live alone, why I try to keep my distance from others at school. I don't want him to hurt anybody else." He lifted his head a little, brave look on his face as he looked Yugi in the eye. "And I'm willing to do whatever it takes so he that he doesn't."

"That's terrible!" Yugi cried, throwing his arms around his friend. "You don't have to be alone anymore, Ryou," he said warmly, fighting back tears. "We can all help you."

"Thank you, Yugi," Ryou said gently, his eyes sad as he hugged the other boy in return. "But this is something I have to do on my own."

"What are you talking about?" Yugi couldn't understand why he'd want to isolate himself like this.

"He's cruel, Yugi," Ryou whispered, fear creeping into his voice as he hugged the other one more tightly. "He places no value on human life. When he called himself a stealer of souls, he wasn't exaggerating. He has a collection of my friends' souls that he trapped in various trading cards and game pieces. He's stolen over a hundred souls, and I can't let him steal anymore, let alone yours." He blushed and added, "Or Joey's or anybody else's. Not when you and your friends have been so kind to me."

"They're your friends too, Ryou," Yugi corrected gently, doing his best to maintain a smile. "How did he reveal himself to you when he finally did?"

Ryou placed a hand over the Millennium Ring, pressing it close to his chest as he bowed his head sadly. "I don't really want to talk about it," he murmured, and Yugi chose to respect that. He scooted over to sit closer to Ryou and put an arm around him. His British friend gave him a grateful smile, and the two gentle souls leaned against each other, turning their attention to the moon and the stars, watching the peaceful sky and letting it replace their current thoughts with ones far more pleasant.

* * *

Ryou put his hands on Yugi's shoulders, trying to comfort him. Yugi was still crying, overwhelmed by the fact that he was almost unable to stop the Spirit of the Puzzle from killing Kaiba. He'd sworn to never duel again, and Ryou understood why he would say something like that. He'd felt the same way for a long time, but not about dueling.

Ryou'd wanted to give up on having friends because of the Evil Spirit's antics. He didn't want to hurt anyone else, didn't want to feel guilty anymore, didn't want to cause more pain than he already had. As Tea and Mai bickered about star chips and a duel, Ryou was focused solely on Yugi, how he remained silent and seemingly oblivious to everything that happened around him. Even when the girls had started to duel, Yugi didn't seem to be aware of any of it.

"Excuse me, I'm going to try to talk to Yugi and see if he'll come around," Ryou said to Joey and Tristan as he began to lead Yugi into the woods for some privacy. When they were several feet in, Ryou stopped and crouched in front of Yugi, holding his hands as he tried to come up with the right words.

"I know exactly how you feel," he murmured at last. "I know what it feels like to lose control and not be able to stop it. I know how it feels when the other presence hurts someone and you can't do a thing about it, and all you can think to do is try to keep it from ever happening again." He blinked as his eyes started to water, not wanting to cry right now. This wasn't about him, after all. It was about Yugi. "But I don't think you need to give up dueling. After all, he was just trying to help you get to Pegasus's castle so that you could rescue your Grandpa. He wasn't _trying_ to hurt anybody." Ryou smiled weakly, and added, "Besides, it's through dueling that you saved me from the Spirit of the Ring."

"Is this how you feel all the time?" Yugi whispered, finally lifting his eyes to Ryou's. His friend nodded faintly. "How do you bear it? I can hardly stand it after just one incident." He sighed, his eyes falling to the ground again. "You're stronger than me, Ryou. I can't live like this…"

* * *

Yami Bakura kept Ryou and Yugi apart for the longest time. Ryou refused to put Yugi in such danger, and Yugi agreed because Yami advised him that it was the right thing for them to do, for now. Once the Spirit of the Millennium Ring was banished permanently, though, Ryou was free to love and live.

A year after they'd returned from Egypt, and Yugi was coping well after losing Yami, but only because he had Ryou. As their time at Domino High drew to a close, they had to face the future together and plan ahead to figure out how they'd make it work.

"I can't tell if you're actually taller than me now, or if that's just your hair," Ryou teased as he sat on the couch beside his boyfriend, resting the bowl of popcorn on his lap as Yugi put an arm around his shoulders. Ryou snuggled comfortably against him as Yugi pushed play on the movie, smiling down at his lover.

"You'd better believe it," Yugi teased, kissing Ryou's forehead as the movie started. Neither of them were truly worried about their future. Their relationship was built on the strong friendship they'd forged through times of adversity, and it seemed impossible that something should ever get between the two of them.


End file.
